Queen of Angels alumnae give school grand send-off

The Queen of Angels Academy in Dorval is closing at the end of the current school year due to a high deficit, rising costs and low enrolment.

But its alumnae are giving it a grand send-off next Friday night with a big party.

Jennifer Frezza, president of the Queen of Angels Academy Foundation, says they did their best to save the English-language private high school for girls but they had to give up after speaking with the ad hoc committee in charge of the file.

"Basically they came back and said it's hopeless," Frezza told CJAD 800 News.

"It was just very evident that the board of directors had no interest in pursuing the matter and you can only beat your head against the wall for so long so we chose to go out with our heads up."

The Dorval school was founded in 1888 by The Congregation of the Sisters of Sainte-Anne. In 1959, the school acquired its current home, the neighbouring Royal Montreal Golf Club clubhouse.

Frezza said they're going out in style with a speakeasy-style soirée with cocktails, food, school tours as well as a photo booth in the Infamous Moose Room.

"Queen of Angels Academy is housed in the old Royal Montreal Golf Course clubhouse. It is a meeting room that literally has a moose head," Frezza laughed.

The big bash is welcoming back over 700 former students to the school which has produced notable grads.

"We have Olympians, we have leaders in every field," Frezza said.

Frezza and her daughter are disappointed the teenager won't be able to finish her year there, but its spirit will live on.

"Basically we just want everybody to know how wonderful the school was and what a pillar of the community it's been, how a lot of us really owe everything to the staff, the teachers, the sisters for instilling in them a sense of self-worth," Frezza said.

"Just to know that it's a very sad day when one of the pillars of the community goes down."